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A banner stretched across Court Street carries a heartfelt message of thanks from Cortland Area Communities That Care (CACTC) to the SUNY Cortland students who devoted 96,000 hours of community service during the 2008-09 academic year.The impressive scope of student volunteerism spans age levels and economic backgrounds to touch the lives of thousands of worthy Cortland County residents.Many of the 6,145 student volunteers participated in mentoring programs such as the YWCA’s Bridges for Kids, or in tutoring/mentoring programs such as Family Counseling Services’ Homework Help.Two members of SUNY Cortland’s AmeriCorps Program, akin to a domestic Peace Corps, worked with Family Counseling Services’ Youth Assist Program helping at-risk youth build confidence and develop appropriate social, communication, and decision-making skills through activities such as "Too Good for Violence," "N-O-T: Not on Tobacco," "Life Skills," "I Can Problem Solve," and "Reconnecting Youth." At other programs, such as Family Nights at the YMCA, 85 students volunteered with the YMCA and with the Cortland County Community Action Program (CAPCO) to help instill healthy family behaviors in 600 underserved families. At the same time, the students, who are future teachers, learned about conditions that affect childhood learning and behavior.Some programs, including the national award-winning Skill-Builders program, teach children and adults with disabilities how to exercise for fun and health. Each week, majors in these two programs train and mentor between 185 and 210 children and adults with disabilities. Children in the community learn and enjoy physical exercise activities while "adopting" college mentors. Adults learn new ways to exercise and compete in wheelchair sports with their nondisabled peers. These programs are two of eight programs in which academic departments collaborateIn these and other projects, 395 students volunteered as part of service-learning courses, which connect academic course work with community projects. These include: Community Health; Introduction to New Media; Children, Families, and Their Community; Leadership in Parks, Recreation, and Leisure Studies; Public History in the U.S., and Academic Writing in the Community.The other 5,750 students volunteered through student clubs or on their own. Many students continue to volunteer after finishing their service-learning courses.This information, compiled by the college’s Institute for Civic Engagement, shows that roughly six out of every seven SUNY Cortland students volunteered. In some projects, students volunteered with staff and faculty, as in Relay for Life, which raised $39,000 for the American Cancer Society. SUNY Cortland staff and faculty volunteer throughout the year on a variety of projects and agencies, including the YMCAs Parent Committee, Hospital Aid Society, Loaves and Fishes, the American Red Cross, and the Cortland Council of Churches. SUNY Cortland student volunteers are earning national acclaim. For example, Gabriella Kanterman, a physical education major with a concentration in adapted physical education, was recently nominated for the national Adapted Physical Activity Council Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award. Her nomination was based upon the countless hours of service-learning experiences she has gained working in the Skill Builder and Challenger Sports Programs through the Physical Education Department/Adapted Physical Education program. She also volunteers for the Cortland/Homer Afterschool Mentorship Program (CHAMP) at the JM McDonald Sports Complex. “SUNY Cortland volunteers are an integral part of the Bridges for Kids program,” noted its director Sara Earl. “They are enthusiastic and energetic. The students come into the program with certain expectations, yet are always surprised at how much they learn about the community in which they now live and the people who make up their new hometown. “For further information regarding volunteering at SUNY Cortland, please contact John Suarez, Coordinator of the Office of Service-Learning, at
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or at (607) 753-4391.
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